Earth and Space Science - Test 1

What is the scientific method in order?

1. Making observations 2. Asking questions 3. Forming a hypothesis 4. Testing a hypothesis 5. Drawing conclusions 6. Communicating results

The atmosphere is made up of ____%____________, ____%_____________, _____%_____________

78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% various other gases

Earth's water is ____% salt water

97

What is an ecosystem?

A community of organisms and its abiotic environment

What is model?

A description or a representation of an object, an idea, a system, or an event

What is a reservoir?

A place where matter and energy is stored

What is a hypothesis?

A possible way to explain or solve a problem

The geosphere includes...

All of the rock and soil on the surface of the continents and on the ocean floor. Also includes the molten interior of Earth.

What is a theory?

An explanation that is supported by all existing observations and study results

What is a system?

An organized group of related objects or components that interact to create a whole

What are the 4 spheres of the Earth?

Atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere

What are decomposers?

Consumer that gets its energy from breaking down dead organisms

____________ causes hot materials to be moved towards the surface

Convection

What is a responding variable?

Dependent variable; factors that change as a result of the independent variables.

Why do scientists from many different fields of science share their ideas?

Discoveries in different fields may add support to one idea. When an idea is supported by evidence from more than one field, the idea is more likely to be accurate.

What is a trophic level?

Each step in a food chain or food web

What is the first law of thermodynamics?

Energy cannot be created or destroyed

What is a closed system?

Energy is exchanged with surrounding but not matter

Most energy is lost as _________ from one trophic level to the next

Heat

What is a manipulated variable?

Independent variable; factors that the scientist changes

Why are most communities best represented with a food web instead of a food chain?

It gives a better representation of what eats what

How is science different from other fields of study?

It is possible to understand nature. Nature is predictable.

Why is Earth a unique planet?

It is the only planet known to have liquid water on the surface, high levels of oxygen in the atmosphere, and life

What are the 5 structural zones of Earth in order?

Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, Mesosphere, Outer core, Inner core

What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere?

Nitrogen

What are some cycles?

Nitrogen cycle, carbon cycle, phosphorus cycle, water cycle

What are consumers?

Organisms that eat other organisms

Rock is so hot in the Asthenosphere that it has the ability to flow, also known as ___________

Plasticity

Earth not only makes life possible, but it makes life ______________.

Quality

Why do scientists need to peer review?

Scientists who helped may have a bias opinion

What is a food web?

Shows the overlapping and interconnected food chains present in a community

What is the law of gravitation?

The larger the masses of two objects and the closer together that the two objects are, the greater the force of gravity between the objects will be.

What is carrying capacity?

The largest population that an area can support

What is the source of Earth's magnetic field?

The liquid iron in Earth's outer core

What is a cycle?

The process in which matter moves through a series of reservoirs

What is the scientific method observation?

The process of using the five senses to collect information about the world.

What is geology?

The study of Earth - the study of the origin, history, processes (in and on the surface) and the structure of the solid Earth.

What is meteorology?

The study of Earth's atmosphere. This involves day to day weather and more long term processes such as climate and climate change.

What is oceanography?

The study of Earth's oceans and the life and processes that affect it. Earth is covered by about 71% water, most of which is found in Earth's oceans (salty).

What is astronomy?

The study of Earth's place in space; the Universe beyond Earth. This branch involves all things outside of Earth's system. Stars, planets, and the solar system are several examples.

What is ecology?

The study of complex relationships between living things and their non living environment

All of Earth's ____________ makes up the hydrosphere

Water

What are some natural resources?

Water, air, rock and mineral resources and fossil fuels

What is a food chain?

a linear series of feeding relationships

What is precision?

a measure of how close a series of measurements are to one another

What is the biosphere?

all living things on earth and the organic matter that has not yet decomposed

What is an open system?

an open system can exchange both energy and matter with its surroundings

What is the largest ecosystem?

biosphere

What are the 3 compositional zones of Earth?

crust, mantle, core

In Earth science, it is often impossible to use a(n) ______________ to test a hypothesis. Instead, scientists make additional ______________ to gather evidence.

experiment, observations

What are the 4 branches of Earth Science?

geology, oceanography, meteorology, astronomy

What is accuracy?

how close a measurement is to the true value

What shape is the Earth?

oblate spheroid

What is the second law of thermodynamics?

when energy transfer takes place, matter becomes less organized with time. This means the universe's energy is spread out more and more evenly over time.